In 1944, U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full-scale American raid on Berlin during World War II.

In 1957, the former British African colonies of the Gold Coast and Togoland became the independent state of Ghana.

In 1967, the daughter of Josef Stalin, Svetlana Alliluyeva, appeared at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and declared her intention to defect to the West.

In 1983, in a case that drew much notoriety, Cheryl Araujo was gang-raped atop a pool table in a tavern in New Bedford, Mass., called Big Dan's; four men were later convicted of the attack. (Araujo was killed in a car accident in 1986.)

In 1987, 193 people died when the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized off the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.

Ten years ago: The emir of Bahrain (Sheik Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa), a key Western ally who had ruled for nearly four decades, died shortly after a meeting with Defense Secretary William Cohen; he was 65.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush backed off on plans to require frequent Mexican travelers to the U.S. to be fingerprinted and photographed before crossing the border. A water taxi capsized in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, killing five people.

One year ago: A Palestinian killed eight students at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem before he was slain. Twin bombings in a shopping district in Baghdad killed at least 68 people and wounded 130 others.